The Record Herald's Top 10 of 2012

Here are the top 10 stories covered by The Record Herald and The Associated Press, as selected by members of our staff.

Comment

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

Writer

Posted Dec. 31, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Posted Dec. 31, 2012 at 10:00 AM

The end of 2012 is approaching. It has been a year of milestones, of joy, of grief and of victory. We will never forget the passing of Joe Paterno, “JoePa,” the battle with Pennsylvania’s voter ID law, the Olympics in London and the recent battle with gun control in the wake of the heart-wrenching deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

Franklin County and the state of Pennsylvania have had some historic moments this year. Here are the top 10 stories covered by The Record Herald and The Associated Press, as selected by members of our staff.

Cleeves also faces charges of kidnapping after allegedly fleeing the scene of the shooting with his 4-year-old daughter, Leia Cleeves. Cleeves was en route to a relative’s home in Michigan when he was arrested in Austintown, Ohio, on July 28.

Cleeves has pleaded not guilty to all charges including three counts of criminal homicide. In November, District Attorney Matthew Fogal filed paperwork that will allow him to seek the death penalty if Cleeves is convicted of murder.

2. Waynesboro School District teacher contracts settled

After a 30-month contract impasse, both the Waynesboro Area School Board and the membership of the Waynesboro Area Education Association accepted in June the terms of a state mediator’s proposal that served as the terms of a three-year contract for teachers. Terms of the agreement centered on teachers’ pay and health care benefits.

Bargaining for a new three-year contract began in January 2010, months before the contract expired on June 30, 2010. During the 30-month impasse, Waynesboro teachers voted twice to authorize a strike, but they never acted on the authorization.

3. Christopher Johnson’s murder trial

Johnson, 29, was convicted of first-degree murder on Oct. 2 and sentenced to death by lethal injection for shooting and killing Wildlife Conservation Officer David L. Grove, 31, on the night of Nov. 11, 2010. The death penalty, rendered by a Lancaster County jury, was the first to be issued in Adams County since 1959.

Grove, who was born and raised in Waynesboro, was the first wildlife conservation officer to be killed in the line of duty since 1915.

Around 10:30 p.m. on the night of Nov. 11, 2010, Grove was in the process of arresting Johnson for poaching on Schriver Road in Freedom Township when Johnson broke away and pulled a .45-caliber handgun from a holster on his hip. A gunfight ensued and Grove suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his neck.

In June, Jeffrey Eldon Miles Sr., 49, formerly of State Line, was charged with the bludgeoning death of Waynesboro teen Angie Lynn Daley in 1995.

Daley’s remains were found on a Waynecastle farm on April 6, 2010 — the same day Miles was arrested for allegedly killing Kristy Dawn Hoke, 29, of Hagerstown. He has pleaded not guilty to Hoke’s stabbing death.

Daley, the daughter of Clarence E. Daley Jr. of Chambersburg and Sunday Gossert of Waynesboro, was 17 when she disappeared in August 1995.

Miles reportedly confessed to police that he hit Daley in the head with a 2-by-4 board — twice after she pleaded with him not to kill her. He officially entered a not guilty plea to the charge in December.

Miles is awaiting trial in Hoke’s death, which is slated to begin in February 2013. Miles faces the death penalty if convicted of killing Hoke.

5. Greencastle-Antrim School Board prayer challenge

The Greencastle-Antrim School Board officially stopped reciting the Lord’s Prayer at the start of its meetings — a decade’s long tradition — after legal action was threatened against the board in August.

Carl Silverman, representing Pennsylvania Non-Believers, and Ernest Perce, representing American Atheists, threatened to sue the board if it did not stop praying publicly, citing the constitutional prohibition of reciting prayers during school board meetings.

The Lord’s Prayer was replaced with a moment of silence after the board decided the potential cost of litigation, in excess of $600,000, was too significant. During the moment of silence, the public in attendance frequently continued to recite the prayer aloud.

6. Nathan Minnich drafted by the Boston Red Sox

In June, Nathan Minnich, a 2008 Waynesboro Area Senior High School graduate, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox on day two of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.

Minnich, the son of Joe and Robin Minnich of Waynesboro, was the 271st overall draft choice and taken in the eighth round. A 6-foot-3, 240-pound infielder who played baseball for Shepherd University, Minnich was drafted as a first baseman and headed to play for Boston’s minor league affiliate, the Lowell Spinners in New York.

7. Joe Paterno dies/Penn State Football 2012 season

The icon of Penn State football, Joe Paterno, died at age 85, on Jan. 22, 2012, from lung cancer. He was Penn State’s head football coach from 1966 to 2011 and the longest tenured head coach in Division I NCAA football.

Paterno was fired in November 2011 after Penn State trustees learned of former defensive coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of boys over a 15-year period.

Bill O’Brien replaced Paterno as head coach of the football team amidst unprecedented scandal and heavy sanctions levied against the school by the NCAA. But following a 0-2 start, the Nittany Lions won eight of their final 10 games, finishing 8-4 overall in a 2012 season few would have predicted.

Page 3 of 3 - In the end, fans affirmed O’Brien gave State College something to ‘Billieve’ in again.

8. ‘Greencastle’ premieres

After more than a year of anticipation, the local film “Greencastle” premiered to audiences in March 2012 with a red carpet event at the Maryland Theatre.

The film — written, directed and produced by Koran Dunbar, a 2000 graduate of Greencastle-Antrim High School — tells the story of a single father raising his son in Greencastle.

Throughout the past year the film has been screened at several festivals including the Idyllwild Film Festival in California and World Music and Independent Film Festival in Washington, D.C., where it received an “Official Selection” nomination. It also received a PG-13 MPAA rating.

Dunbar himself was nominated for acting and directing awards at several of the festivals, and he took home the “Best Actor” award at the World Music and Independent Film Festival in August.

9. Anais Fournier’s death

Anais Fournier, the 14-year-old daughter of Wendy Kline and Richard Fournier of Hagerstown, went into cardiac arrest in December 2011 after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster energy drinks in 24 hours. She was pronounced brain dead six days later in Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

In October 2012, Fournier’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corp. in California. Her parents allege that the energy drinks contributed to Fournier’s death — officially caused by cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity, according to her death certificate and court records.

The lawsuit claims Monster Energy continues to conceal exact amounts of caffeine contained in its drinks and that the company has failed to test its products for effects on the cardiovascular system.

10. Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy, aptly nicknamed “Frankenstorm,” barreled through Franklin County days before Halloween, causing power outages, downed trees and limbs, and flash flooding in its wake.

Most of the major damage occurred in western Franklin County, including Mercersburg and St. Thomas.

At the peak of the power outages, more than 9,000 customers in the county were in the dark, primarily due to the downed wires and tree limbs. Tuscarora School District had to close its doors for four days because of problems caused by power outages before allowing students to return.

Honorable Mentions:

Greencastle and Antrim Township’s economic development, spurred by the adoption of the LERTA tax incentive program.